Suspending extra topsail-tards



f f UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

GEORGE HUBBARD, OF STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

SUSPENDING EXTRA TOPSAIL-YARDS.

Specicatonof Letters Patent No. 14,723, dated April 22, 1856.

'To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HUEBARD, of Stonington, in the county of NewLondon and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in theApplication of Extra Topsail-Yards to Vessels; and I do hereby declarethat the same is fully described and represented in. the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1, is afront elevation of a vessels mast provided with two topsail yards and anextra yard applied to it in accordance with my improvement. Fig. 2, is aside view of the same; Fig. 3, a rear elevation of it; Fig. 4, a topview of the extra yard.

In these drawings, A, represents the mast, and B, the topmast appliedtogether in the usual way; C, is the lower yard of the topsail, and D,the upper yard thereof; F, ex-

hibiting the extra yard. This extra yard I arrange above the lower masthead or its cap as seen in the drawings, and I apply said extra yard tothe topmast by means of a staple or clasp as seen at a, and in suchmanner that the extra yard may be raised up toward the trestletree, b,in the same manner as the upper yard is usually elevated; andfurthermore I suspend the extra yard from the trestletree, g, or thetopmast in the vicinity thereof, by means of two chains or ropes, d, d,they being arranged on opposite sides of the center of the yard and soas to maintain the said yard in' a horizontal position or thereabout.

The above mode of arranging the extra yard, applying it to the topmast,and supporting it by chains hanging from the trestletree or any part ofthe top mast in the immediate vicinity thereof, is a mattei' of greatimportance and advantage, where an extra yard is used in combinationwith the two topsail yards, and for the purpose of enabling topsails tobe reefed in a manner well known.

I am aware that the application or use of an extra yard to a topsail andits two yards is not new, the same having been used for many years, andparticularly in what is termed the Forbes rig for vessels. It will befound described, in a printed work, published by R. B. Forbes, andentitled a New rig for ships and other vessels, such work having beenprinted in Boston, by Wier and White in 1849. I am also aware, that apatent was granted on June 20th 1854, to Frederic Howes, waein, he, as Ibelieve, im-

properly lays claim to the invention of the application of an extra yardsupported by a truss crane or brake (of a peculiar construction) or itsequivalent, such being to effect the same purpose as the Forbes rig andit may be said to be substantially the same in principle. Neither in theForbes rig, nor in the patent of Howes, is the extra yard or itsconnection with the mast arranged above the lower mast head or its Capand so that said extrayard may be raised above the said head and uptoward the trestletree, such extra yard, in Forbes and Howes plans beingbelow the lower mast head.

The arrangement of the extra yard above the lower mast head and its cap,and its application to t-he topmast in such manner as to allow of itsbeing raised toward the trestletree, constitutes an important feature inmy invention, and it is of great value, as it enables a person to usethe extra yard in the place of the upper topsail yard, in case thelatter is carried away or becomes injured. This cannot be accomplishedwhen the extra yard is affixed to the topmast and arranged below thecap, e, of the lower mast head; because from the nature of such anarrangement and adapt-ation, as well as from the extension of the caparound the topmast, obstacles are presented to elevating the yard abovethe cap. Other advantages are to be found in my improvement, as by meansof it the usual danger of injury to the cap at'the mast head, or thatwfhich results from strain upon4 it by the yard is avoided. In case ofloss of either of the upper yards, the other can be employed in place ofit.

The employment of two topsail yards and an extra yard is now verygeneral; as by them the topsail which is usually made in two parts canbe reefed in a very short time, a few seconds generally sulicing tocomplete the operations of changing them from a whole to a close reefedtopsail, and this without requiring the mariners to go aloft as isnecessary when sails are furled; the upper topsail when lowered downfalling forward of the lower topsail and yard and being entirelybecalmed.

What I claim as my invention or improvement in the application of theextra yard is- Arranging the same or its connection with the mast, abovethe cap of the lower mast head and applying said extra yard to the TIOtopmast and suspending it from, or near the In testimony whereof I havehereunto set trestletree, by means essentially as described my signaturethis seventeenth day of March 10 whereby said yard may not only beraised A. D. 1856.

up toward said trestletree but be supported 5 in the manner set forthand be capable of GEO' HUBBARD being braced around as occasion may re-Witnesses: quire, and this without danger of injury to R. H. EDDY,

the cap of the lower mast head. F. P. HALE, Jr.

